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literatures.

Define literary terms and concepts exemplified in selected literary texts.

OLD ENGLISH PERIOD


Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Written by The Venerable Bede
(673-735) who is considered as the Father of English History and regarded as
the greatest Anglo-Saxon scholar.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Different monks traces the annals that chronicle Anglo-
Saxon history, life and culture after the Roman invasion
Alfred the Great (848?-899) who was King of the southern Anglo-Saxon
kingdom of Wessex from 871-899 championed Anglo-Saxon culture by writing
in his native tongue and by encouraging scholarly translations from Latin into
Old English (Anglo-Saxon). It is believed that the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was
begun during his reign.
Cædmon’s Hymn. (7th century). An unlearned cowherd who was inspired by a
vision and miraculously acquired the gift of poetic song produced this nine-line
alliterative vernacular praise poem in honor of God.
Fates of the Apostles, Juliana, Elene, and Christ II or The Ascension. These
Old English Christian poems were popularized by Cynewulf in the 8th century.
Beowulf. The National epic of England which appears in the Nowell Codex
manuscript from the 8th to 11th century. It is the most notable example of the
earliest English poetry, which blends Christianity and paganism.
Epic is a long narrative poem written about the exploits of a supernatural hero.
Dream of the Rood. One of the earliest Christian poems preserved in the 10th
century Vercelli book. The poem makes use of dream vision to narrate the
death and resurrection of Christ from the perspective of the Cross or Rood itself.
The Battle of Brunanburg. This is a heroic old English poem that records, in
nationalistic tone, the triumph of the English against the combined forces of the
Scots, Vikings and Britons in AD 937.
The Battle of Maldon. Another heroic poem that recounts the fall of the English
army led by Birhtnoth in the hands of the Viking invaders in AD 991.
The Wanderer. The lyric poem is composed of 115 lines of alliterative verse that
reminisces a wanderer’s (eardstapa) past glory in the company of his lord and
comrades and his solitary exile upon the loss of his kinsmen in battles.
The Seafarer. An Old English lyric recorded in the Exeter Book that begins by
recounting in elegiac tone the perils of seafaring and ends with a praise of God.

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